


Enhanced: A Young Avengers Story

by empressofevil



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-04-28 19:18:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofevil/pseuds/empressofevil
Summary: Everyone knows the story of the Avengers, Earth's mightiest and bravest heroes. Everyone tells the story of there Victories over the Chitauri in New York and Ultron in Sokovia, not to mention countless attacks by Hydra. Everyone tells stories of there great power and might, and in doing so, they have become a legend, a force of be reckoned with.Unfortunately, this is not their story.This is the story of the People that came after them. The children forced to greatness yet unsure of how to live up to the people who came before them. Not Legendary, not forceful, just trying to survive.This is their story.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~An AU where everything is exactly the same up to Black Panther, but Infinity war didn't happen because, I don't know, Thanos decides to open a bakery instead.





	1. Prologue: Dark Minds Create Black Souls

**Author's Note:**

> An AU where everything is exactly the same up to Black Panther, but Infinity war didn't happen because, I don't know, Thanos decides to open a bakery instead.

After the events of the New York alien attack, the executives of S.H.I.E.L.D and delegates from multiple countries decided that this world is in dire need of protection.   
To quote Alexander Pierce "We have just experienced an alien invasion. A real alien invasion. We have just witnessed firsthand the strength of interstellar beings. While others are trying to cover it up, I am more focused on making sure we can defend ourselves, should the earth become in danger again, and it will. Sure, right now, the world has the Avengers, beacons of hope and glory to all of humanity. However, they will not last forever, and then the earth will be unprotected from the many villains who threaten us on a daily basis. Enter the Young Avengers Initiative, a program designed to take the heroes of today, and make the heroes of tomorrow. Genetic experimentation and manipulation have come so far in the last twenty years. Things once impossible are now completely possible, thanks to the dedicated work of S.H.I.E.L.D scientists around the world. Now, using state of the art S.H.I.E.L.D technology, it is possible to separate DNA and genomes containing skills, traits, and abilities in test subjects, and place them into compatible subjects. Using this technology, S.H.I.E.L.D is creating a program in which genetic material is taken from superheroes, and put into child test subjects, to give them all sorts of abilities, such as enhanced speed, strength, agility, intellect, as well as an array of what can only be described as superpowers. These children are then taken to a secure, remote S.H.I.E.L.D facility, where they learn to control their powers and use their abilities. In conclusion, we are creating the superheroes of tomorrow, for the benefit of everyone, so the world and its inhabitants will never be unprotected."   
Pierce's idea was originally met with mixed reactions, including human rights concerns but eventually, after much assurance that all tests and training would be humane and only able children, the S.H.I.E.L.D leaders decided to pass the program. The Young Avengers Initiative was born.  
Over the first two years of the program, 10 Test subjects, or Prodigies, were created. They were taken from orphanages around the world at young ages (2 or 3) and genetically enhanced to mimic the abilities of members of the current avenger's team. More prodigies would have been created, but there were too many factors at that point, including compatibility and physical/mental strength. After the first seven prodigies were created, The S.H.I.E.L.D scientists stopped manipulating DNA. They mainly focused on training and research into DNA and genomes. A great deal was learned from these children, watching them and testing them. The results were outstandingly positive. Eventually, when the robot Ultron attempted to conquer earth, the scientists resumed creating superhumans, making 10 more prodigies after that. Now, in the wake of Civil war, more are being created by the day.   
To quote one of the lead scientists, Dr. Jasmine Willow "It was easy to give them physical abilities, but we found it was difficult to give them the mental strength to use them properly. This meant that some children who would have otherwise been completely compatible with the program were disqualified purely based on mental stability".  
However, this program holds a deep, dark past. The tests and control systems were inhuman at best. They used a blended mix of mind control, code-named Patronus program, and brute force to keep the prodigies in line and under control. Those who allowed themselves to be controlled were taken to the next level. Those who rejected the Patronus programs mind-control devices were expelled from the program and taken to a remote facility away from the other prodigies…  
…and killed.  
Five prodigies were expelled in the history of the program. However, two were redeemed and restored to the program, but now the mind control is failing in all the students simultaneously and without any explainable reason. The children are becoming self-aware and they’re starting to question the program. It’s only a matter of time until they revolt, and nobody can guess what bloodbath would occur then.


	2. Chapter One: Some Secrets Can't Stay Hidden forever

“And, in the wake of these unfolding events, Nickolas Fury, former head of S.H.I.E.L.D, made these statements.” The Tv buzzed, the same mono-toned news-woman delivering the same news that had been blaring non-stop for two weeks. The story that shook the world to its very core and left many wondering what went wrong. What wonderful story was that I hear you asking? Simple.  
The Avengers were caught fighting in an airport parking lot.   
Maria Hill leaned back in her chair, covering her face with her hands and groaning softly. She was sitting in her darkened office, staring at the two computer monitors in front of her. She was on hour fourteen and energy drink nine, just trying to complete the same stupid job she’d been doing for months and months. She sighed again, rubbing the bridge of her nose.   
Two years. It had been two years since Natasha Romanoff single-handedly dumped all of HYDRA’s files onto the internet. Most of it was important, All of it was classified, and Nick Fury needed someone to go through all of it. If S.H.I.E.L.D was fully staffed, they could have analyzed it all in a matter of weeks, but after the fall of the Heli-carriers, a grand total of 5 people were left to run whatever scraps of S.H.I.E.L.D were left in the crossfire. They were the only people Nick trusted enough to believe they weren’t secret HYDRA agents. The bright side of that is that the few people here could be completely trusted with everything. The bad side is that a job meant for fifty people was now being done by one.   
“I was never a supporter of the accords, and I’ve been clear and constant on this. I don’t believe that these people have ever shown a need to be controlled. That being said, these past events have shown another side to these people. They have fought like children instead of discussing it like adults.”   
Maria opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Closing her eyes, she removed the cap and took a swig, whilst Nick Fury’s voice droned on in the background.   
“…The heroes that chose to sign the accords have been returned to the Avengers compound, where they are being monitored. The ones who chose not to are being held in a secure facility abroad. Until such a point as they can come to an agreement, both parties are being held apart and monitored constantly in an effort to keep everyone safe.”  
Maria sighed, slamming the bottle on the desk and rubbing her forehead. Her eyes flickered back up to the monitor, where the unending sea of HYDRA files sat. She wasn’t even halfway through, and the seemingly endless loop of it all made her want to curl up in a ball in the corner of her office and die there.   
As if on cue, Nick Fury stomped into her office. He was angry, of course, he was, all this constant bad publicity was killing him and the team he had worked for decades to create. Hearing the sound of his own voice on the TV, he growled and quickly turned it off.   
“What the hell happened, Nick?” Maria asked, throwing her hands up in the air.   
Nick sighed, taking a seat on the black leather sofa to the left. It was used for meetings and secret work naps. Often, one more than the other. “HYDRA happened. There still here, you know, and they're still pulling the strings.” He said, leaning back and throwing his feet up. Maria and Nick had an unofficial little therapy pact and right now, they could both use it. “Hand me that.” He added, pointing to the vodka. Maria handed it over without a complaint, and he took a drink before handing it back. They began an unspoken ritual of drinking.   
“If we had a sniper rifle and a garbage fire, It’d be a total flashback,” Maria said with a small smile. The drink was starting to take the edge off both of them. It almost made her forget that she was sitting in her darkened office at 11 pm on a Monday night with her boss getting drunk.   
“We promised to never speak for that again.” He responded, almost breaking a smile. “How’s the file analysis going?” He asked, gesturing with the bottle to the computer.   
Maria let out a groan as a non-verbal response. “Its long and difficult and I honestly hate it. I miss when we could make interns do this stuff.” She lamented, still stuck in the past.   
She moved her computer mouse over to the next folder, named “SetFolder: YA2012FA”. It had been tested and double checked by virus software, so it was 100% clean. She clicked on it, then turned her attention back to the director, who was making himself comfortable on her small office couch. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?”   
“Not anymore. S.H.I.E.L.D’s been dispensed, the C.I.A’s taken over almost everything and, let's face it, the Avengers don’t seem to exist anymore.” Nick said, sighing and covering his face with his hands.   
The file opened, revealing a bill for project funding. Maria began to skim through the title.   
‘An experiment into replication of DNA and genomes of world heroes.’  
Ok, nothing bad so far. DNA manipulation wasn’t exactly unknown in HYDRA studies, with tests on rats and mice being commonplace. However, She still had to check for human manipulation.   
‘This bill aims to convince the panel to increase funding to project YA2012, also known as the Young Avengers initiative. This experiment has been increasingly successful yet requires more experiments and research to complete. With a 50% increase in funding, Officials will be very impressed with what we can achieve.’ It read.   
Maria's eyes scanned the document, becoming more worried with every word. Anything with ‘Avengers’ in it should have been brought to her attention much earlier. HYDRA must have place excess encryption, which means it must have been something they REALLY wanted to keep a secret.   
Sure enough, within a few paragraphs, the bill began to cite “DNA manipulation in children to correspond to the heroes.” And “Physical enhancement and testing, sometimes to extremes, leading to phycological exhaustion and fatigue, and in rare cases, death.” Maria gasped and Nick cocked his eyebrow.   
“Nick get over here!” She screeched. “You have to see this!” She said, gesturing for him to come closer.   
His head shot up as he pulled himself off the couch and towards her. “What is it?” He asked, looking at the monitor.  
“HYDRA was making Young Avengers!” Maria said, pointing to the first line in one of the paragraphs. “Child manipulation...” She murmured aloud, in a state of disbelief.   
Nick’s brow furrowed in confusion. His lips moved but no sound escaped. His eyes glazed the file, looking at the links, the paragraphs and the pictures attached, all of which horrifying. “That… that was just an idea…” He finally whispered.   
Maria looked at him in shock and disgust. “You KNEW about this?” She said, shaking her head in disbelief.   
“Pierce suggested it, a long time ago, after the chitauri attack, but it was considered a terrible idea by so many people that he was forced to drop it,” Nick said, his voice low as he tried to take everything in. He knew by now that Pierce was a terrible man, but this…. This was beyond terrible. This was psychopathic.   
“Clearly, that didn’t stop him. Look, Nick, look at all this…” She said, In a state of pure disgust. A folder opened, displaying pictures and files that showed scenes of violence and destruction. All this, All this horror, all this death, and it happened right under their noses.  
“We need to tell the Avengers. What’s left of them anyway... This could be huge.” Maria said, standing up from her desk and grabbing her coat.   
“Agreed. Do you still have Natasha’s contact information?”   
“The old one, yes. Let's hope she hasn’t changed phone’s again.” Maria said, getting out her Cell-phone and dialing Natasha.   
“I’ll call Tony and see if I can contact Steve, wherever the hell he is,” Nick said. They nodded to each other and began their new missions.  
They had to get the team back together. They had to find these kids.   
~May 12th, 2012~  
“Dr. Willow?” Came the soft voice of her assistant from the doorway of the lab. “Are you here?” She asked, knocking on the metal door frame. She’d been working with the Willow for long enough to know that knocking was essential. There was always some crazy experiment going on, especially in light of the new project, the young avengers initiative.  
“Over here!” Dr. Jasmine Willow yelled from the other end of her lab. She was disheveled, adding another layer of insanity to her already crazy look. Her long black hair had fallen out of its bun in clumps and had now frizzed up so badly that it almost covered her face. Her clothes were dirty and crimped, and she had bags under her eyes. Despite that, she was still wide awake and buzzing around her lab like a bee. In the center of her lab was an early version of what would one day be known as the science cradle, with wires and pipes sticking out of it. “Come in, Come in. Watch that cord!” She suddenly snapped, gesturing widely at the floor and making the assistant jump slightly. You couldn’t know which one she was talking about, there were at least ten splitting and weaving around like snakes.   
The assistant slowly walked in, placing her briefcase on her table and revealing a form. “I’m just completing your weekly evaluation. HYDRA issued, you know all this.” She said, filling in the blanks on the forms. Name, experiment number, date, the easy stuff.   
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Willow said, rolling her eyes and gesturing for her to speed up this process. She was familiar with this little song and dance, having worked under HYDRA practically her whole life. She didn’t need to be babied through the whole process. “Quickly, come on, I need to work on this.” She said, pointing to the cradle.   
“Would you like to start with what you are doing right now?” The assistant said, flipping through the pages, to the place left for notes. “Tell us what’s in the metal coffin.” She added, gesturing with her pen.   
“Brilliant idea. Come here.” Willow said, beckoning her assistant forward towards the invention. “When Peirce told me what I had to do, wow, I was almost overwhelmed!” Willow looked up, smirking. “Almost. I developed a plan of indoctrination and manipulation within twelve hours of being set this little challenge, and now, with a few days of solid work under my belt, I’ve made a great leap forward. Naturally, I started with what I assume will be the hardest. Any old scientist can manipulate human DNA, but me…” Dr. Willow shook her head. “…No, not me. I chose to start with the gods.” She said, unclasping the lock on the side of the cradle and slowly beginning to lift it open. “Help me, come on!” She snapped. The assistant dropped her clipboard and flew to the side in an effort to help her.   
The lid was huge and heavy, and even with two people, they both still strained under its weight as the contents of the metal box became clear. Once the lid was open and out of the way, the assistant looked inside, gasping at what she saw.   
“Do you like her?” Willow asked, the smirk audible in her words. “She’s my first. Well, my first success. You know what they say… you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” She said, running her fingers down the inside of the cradle, along with the bumps and ridges. “I broke my fair share of eggs to make her, but she’s finally here.” She finished. She looked at her creation with uncharacteristic warm and even perhaps… love?  
The project was lying dormant, completely still, its eyes closed in a scene of pure tranquillity. It was young, 11 or 12 at the most, with blond hair and pale skin.   
Willow’s assistant suddenly had a thousand questions about her.   
“Thor,” Willow stated simply. “I used genetic coding to make her look just like him with his blond hair and his blue eyes. That was the easy part. Now, I merely have to master power replication” Willow added, speaking as if it was easy.   
“Does she have a name?” The assistant asked, the form long since discarded. This was pure curiosity bubbling forwards.   
“At the moment, I call her Alpha, as in, the first, but in time I’ll give her a real name. Actually, I’ve already picked one out for her.”  
“What is it?” The assistant asked, looking up at her.   
Dr. Willow’s lips curled into a dangerous smile as she looked down at the girl.   
“Aria.”


	3. Chapter Two: This is Bigger Than us All

Tony stormed into the large boardroom, fixing his sharp black suit for the thousandth time, his pseudo-son Peter Parker hot on his heels. Tony sat down, looking around at the board room at the people that were once the Avengers, with half curiosity and half embarrassment. This was the first time in a month and a half that he had seen most of these people, and that time had not been kind to anyone, least of all him.   
Natasha had been brought in, having changed her hair from red to bright blond. She avoided Tony’s gaze, turning her attention back to Maria, who was talking her over the schedule today.   
Vision floated in one of the corners, his attention fixated on the information pad, his eyes glazing the files. Reading through these files made him feel important like he was worthwhile keeping around when in reality Maria had given it to him to keep him quiet.   
Rhodes wheeled his chair up next to Tony, a wordless gesture of support. However, what really drew Tony’s attention was the African King, T’Challa, sitting across from him, engrossed in his phone and completely ignoring the other people in the room. If he was here, that meant that Steve Rogers wasn’t far away. He groaned softly. He didn’t want to deal with that yet, or, at all, for that matter.   
Outside, Nick wandered down the hallway towards the boardroom, Sam, Steve and Wanda tailing after him. They stopped at the closed doorway before he entered.  
“He’s in there,” Nick stated, looking at Steve. “Are you ready for this?” He asked him.  
“Is the reason you called us here really that important?” Steve asked him.  
“Without question,” Nick answered.   
“Then it doesn’t seem like I have a choice.” Steve sighed, looking over at Sam, who nodded in support. “Let’s do this.” He finished.   
Nick nodded and opened the doors, ushering the Avengers in. Maria’s eyes flew to him, and she gestured for Natasha to take a seat. Nick made a similar motion for the Captain to sit, and he took the seat next to T’Challa, who finally looked up from his phone. They nodded to each other in support. Tony and Steve looked at each other. There was clearly a thousand things they wanted to say to each other, but both stayed stone silent.   
The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife, everyone staying silent in a fit of awkwardness and tension. Peter picked at his jacket button and Wanda looked across at Sam, uncomfortable.   
“Thank you for coming today. We are glad you could all be here.” Nick said, breaking the tense silence as the lights dimmed and the projector flashed up the S.H.I.E.L.D logo. It was all that was really left of the once mighty organization.   
“As you know, we called all the members of your disbanded group, and you were the only ones that could attend. Thor has disappear to Asgard, and nobody is sure of where Bruce Banner is right now.” Nick continued. Natasha’s eyes flickered down, a moment of sadness flashing onto her features. She quickly masked it, returning her emotionless expression to her face. Nick looked down at the page of notes in his hands. He had detailed exactly how he would tell them, to avoid any sort of bad reaction.   
“With all due respect, Fury, Why the hell are we here?” Tony asked, rolling his eyes at how long Nick explanation was taking.   
Nick shook his head and continued. “I know everyone is a little on edge in light of recent events, but I hope that we can put that aside, at least for this meeting.   
Tony gave Steve a sideways glare at Nicks words, which brought back memories that have scarred him all over again. The image of his best friend falling to the ground stuck out at him, inciting a level of fear and hopelessness that he hoped he would never feel again. Even though Rhodes had lived, it didn’t make reliving the experience any easier, and he decided to take out that misplaced anger on Steve. At that moment, all traces of humanity and civility went straight out the window.  
“Don’t look at me like that, Tony. I had to save my friend!” Steve burst out in anguish. He had hoped he could patch things up, but he knew deep down that Tony wouldn’t just let that happen.   
“We were trying to save people, Steve!” Tony yelled, standing up.   
“You were controlling people!” Steve retorted, standing to face him.   
Nick looked around, his eyes flashing from one person to another. Wanda was in a state of panic, her eyes flashing around the room and her breathing quickly becoming ragged. T’Challa was glaring at Tony, so angry it seemed he was about to tackle him across the table, and Steve and Tony where furiously yelling, so much anger boiling over that it was surely about to turn violent in a matter of seconds. This was escalating much too quickly, and Nick, caught in the middle, had no idea how to deal with it. As words were about to turn into fists, he made a decision. He didn’t want to do this, but there was really no choice.   
“Put it up.” He stated, looking at Maria. She quickly tapped two symbols on her iPad and flicked them into each other. A picture burst onto the projection board.   
Wanda gasped loudly, startled, and jumped back. Sam’s eyes widened and he jabbed Steve in the ribs to grab his attention away from Tony and to turn it towards the screen. Rhodes did the same with Tony and before long the whole room was staring at the screen, stunned and startled silent.  
It was a horrid picture of a girl covered in blood, lying Amit a field of rubble and destruction. She was short, with bright blue hair and pale skin covered in cuts and bruises. A large gash covered her stomach, cutting deep and spilling blood all over the clothes and rocks around her. She was dead, her eyes wide in fear, yet she registering a lifelessness, a soullessness that belonged only to the dead. She lay on top of a piece of metal, covered in dings and scratches and a layer of her blood, but also covered by a larger, more obverse bright green symbol. It was partially covered and partially cut off, but the bit that was visible was unmistakable.   
HYDRA.  
For a minute, the room was stunned silent. Tony and Steve fell back into their seats in shocked awe. Nick sighed and gestured to the projection. “This...” He started, but suddenly stopped, trying to find the right words. “This is why we called you, all of you, together.” He finished.   
“Vhy are you showing us this?” Wanda asked. “Where they hurt in an avengers brawl?” She asked. It was heartbreaking, watching her beat herself up. She couldn’t bear to think that she had hurt another human soul, especially a child.  
“No, these children are genetic experiments that we discovered in the declassified HYDRA files,” Nick said, gesturing to Natasha, who bowed her head.   
“HYDRA was testing on kids?” Steve asked softly. He knew HYDRA was terrible but this…. This was something else.   
“Yes.” Fury stated simply.  
“This is a travesty, but, with all due respect, Nick, what does that have to do with the Avengers?” Rhodes asked, carefully twisting his words so he didn’t insult anyone. This was clearly important, but he couldn’t see the significance.   
“Normally, nothing. This is far from the first genetic experiment we’ve learned about in HYDRA files.” He took a pause, trying to find the right way to tell them. In the end, he just decided to come right out with it. “but these kids are different. There important to you because they were modeled after you.” He finished, sitting down at the head of the table.   
Another silence blanketed the room. Nick sighed, closing his eyes. Maria nudging him and he continued.   
“HYDRA, under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D, abducted DNA from each of you in order to create the next generation of superheroes. They extracted your superhuman traits from that DNA and placed them in children, which they then manipulated to look and act just like you. In other words, they were trying to create clones of Avengers.”   
“Are you saying…” Steve's voice trailed off into nothing.  
“You guys have kids, and they’re genetic experiments by HYDRA,” Nick said, shutting his eyes. That was a sentence that he hoped he would never have to say.   
Murmurs filled the room. “Can ve find them?” Wanda burst out, curious and still startled.   
“This is the newest location report, which we found hidden on a HYDRA server still in use,” Maria said, sliding a Manilla folder across the table towards Steve, who picked it up and slowly read through the opening page. “It’s from six months ago, and it details where most of the current children are being kept. Strangely, however, It doesn’t say whether or not they were made there, or whether there are plans to make more.”   
“As long as they haven’t been moved in the last 6 months, they should still be based there. After the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D and The rise of Ultron, they would be hesitant to move them unless completely necessary. The problem is getting in. That base is by far one of the most well-guarded we’ve seen.”  
“They’re trying to keep something out?” Steve asked.   
“They're trying to keep something in,” Nick stated.   
“Do we know anything about them?” Tony asked, leaning over to grab a couple of pages from the folder.   
“Actually…” Maria said, swiping something to the side of her pad. It flashed up on the projector, a screenshot of a file directory full of names and dates, each containing other files. It was a little all over the place, but there were clear files directories, labeled Avenger names like ‘Steven Grant Rogers’, ‘Edward Antony Stark’ “We found hundreds of files from varying dates. We know a lot about them. We’ve managed to decrypt most of the files, but a couple of them are causing our software problems. One of the files is labeled “ErRor912: Invalid Operating System: Critical Failures.” and appears to have valid and important information.” She said, pointing to a file directory with a red title. “However, its password protected, and whenever the software tries to work around it, the antivirus software changes itself, reworking and moving so we can’t get in. However, The other files that we were able to decrypt contain a large amount of information. Here’s the information on all the ones we know about.” She said, nodding to Nick.   
“Aria Odinson,” Nick said, flicking the slide to a picture of a girl. She had pale, porcelain skin, long blond hair, and piercing blue eyes. Her head was turned to the side but her eyes were staring into the camera, boring into the souls of the Avengers. Her face was covered in tiny scratches and bruises, and her mouth was hanging slightly open as if she was about to speak.   
“As far as the records explain, she was the first experiment that ended in success.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued. “Which means there were failed experiments.” She shook her head “She’s got a version of Aerokinesis, or air manipulation, though the file that we decrypted on her states that her powers are...” She paused, slowly reading a quote from a file. “’Uncontrollable at best and downright lethal at worst.’ She’s referenced as Alpha in early files.” Maria said, scrolling through the document full of information.   
“Does Thor know about her?” Sam asked the question everyone was thinking.   
“We couldn’t find a way to contact him. He doesn’t have a phone or a computer and all the ravens we send just disappear.” Nick said, looking out the window with a forlorn gaze. Those crows had cost him a small fortune. He pulled himself from his daze to change the slide.  
A photo of a bright green woman with jet black hair popped up on the screen. She was wearing a black sports bra and shorts and had an impressively muscular body.   
“Lillia Banner. Her files state that she isn’t at all scientifically minded, more focused on physical training and yoga. Her strength is off the charts. Not quite Thor or the Hulk, but about on par with Captain or T’Challa. ” Nick said, reading off a file. They were way off of his script now, so he just decided to go with the straight H.Y.D.R.A. information. “Since we don’t know where Banner is, we can’t tell him about her either.”  
Maria changed the slide again, this time to something a little more relevant to these people.   
“Thomas Anderson Stark,” Nick said. Maria closed Thor’s file and Opened the one marked ‘Edward Antony Stark.’ The file that opened was a document filled with information. Tonya almost fell out of his seat at the mention of ‘Stark’. He had theorized that he had had kids, sure, but never expected to actually see one of them. The photograph attached showed a young brunette male sitting in some sort of scientific lab environment, a round metal device resting in one hand. He was staring at something behind the camera, brows furrowed in a look of anger and confusion on this face.   
“Apparently genius runs in the family, Stark. This kids IQ’s been measured at 210, and perhaps higher. He also seems to have a real passion for inventing and making things. He made an entire robot, which we will show later.”  
Maria took down the image and searched around for the next file, opening the ‘Steven Grant Rogers’. She let out a snort of derision as she put up the next file. A black and white image of a girl with long curly hair looking into a mirror. Her face was bleak and forlorn as she held the large antique camera to her chest  
“Justice? Really? That’s the best H.Y.D.R.A could come up with?” She mocked.   
“Get on with it, Maria,” Nick said, putting a hand to his forehead in a soft facepalm.   
“Of course. Justice Rogers.” Maria said, holding in a chuckle at the name. “Justice was the third child made after Aria and Thomas. Why H.Y.D.R.A would want to make another Captain America, I will never be sure, but she got subjected to a version of the super soldier serum, albeit an incomplete one. She’s got the speed, and some of the strength, but none of the other abilities. She can still get drunk, she can still get sick and I presume she can’t survive being frozen for 50 years.” Maria said, a poor attempt at humor that went over about as well as you would expect it too. She shrugged it off as changed the slide again.   
Nick looked over the next file as a picture of a stony-faced brunette boy glaring into the camera flicked up. “Alex Barton. Strangely, Files on him are obscure and all over the place. He doesn’t appear to have any abilities, no enhanced strength or speed, he doesn’t even train very often. It also references him as having ‘unstable auditory awareness’, which we think might mean that he is…” He paused, his words trailing off into nothingness. “…deaf.” He finally finished, throwing up the next image, a tall red-headed girl with a knife and a gash on her arm. She was in the middle of some sort of training session, as determined by her expression, a patented mix of concentration and sheer anger.   
“Kara Romanoff. Taken through a poor man version of the red room training, this girls flexibility is…” Maria stopped, putting up a H.Y.D.R.A issued chart of ratios. “Off the charts. She’s trained to use blades and various other weapons, but apart from that, there are actually very few files on her mental health and well-being. Our guess is it isn’t exactly great.” The slide changed to a red-haired boy with blue eyes and a huge smile.   
“Magnus Maximoff, master magician.” It sounded like terrible poetry, but it was literally the first line in the H.Y.D.R.A. file. “Enhanced to gain his mother’s telekinetic powers, he’s as uncontrollable as he is… optimistic?” Nick said, reading straight from a file. Seemed like a strange thing to include, but whatever information they could get, I guess. Maria and Nick exchanged a glance before moving on.   
“And finally, as promised, the robot” Maria said, throwing up an image of a terminator-esque robot. Its frame was composed of bright silver metal, exposing red and blue wires throughout its figure. “Based off of the vision’s programming, this android was created by Thomas as a security system. Its nothing flashy, but her files indicate that she’s more than able to defend herself. She’s also biometrically linked to all of the H.Y.D.R.A ethernet, including files we don’t even have access too.”   
“There are files referencing T’Challa and Bucky, which makes us think that Hydra made children of them too, but the files are empty when we open them, so we can’t be sure,” Nick said. T'Challa's eyes widened and he looked as if he was about to fall out of his seat.   
“We need to do something.” Steve finally stated.   
Nick shook his head again, finally sitting down. “We would if we could get anywhere near it. Like I said, this is the most well-guarded H.Y.D.R.A base in the world, with some of the most precious content inside. It would be too dangerous to just rush in all guns blazing.   
Silence blanketed the room as everyone thought about what to do.   
“You know,” T’Challa finally said, snapping out of his daze. “I have an acquaintance that works for the CIA. Everett Ross, who owes me a couple of favors. If he tried to join their scientific team, he could infiltrate them with a hidden camera and show us what we are dealing with.”  
Nick thought for a second. A CIA officer would be trusted, accepted even, by H.Y.D.R.A. It was the best plan anyone had come up with.   
“Alright. T’Challa, follow me and we can devise a plan.” Nick said standing and beginning to walk out, the king following behind.  
“Wait, Fury, what can we do?” Tony asked, rising from his seat.   
“Keep close, Keep posted, stay alert and for gods sakes, don’t kill one another while I'm gone,” Nick said, exiting quickly with a shake of the head.


	4. Chapter Four: Get Me The Hell Out of Here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter's late! I'm so sorry! Life got in the way!

~ARIA'S POV~  
Aria? Who the hell names a child Aria?  
That was the exact thought that ran through my head as I stared through the darkness at the full-length mirror across the room. I shouldn't be awake, it was almost 6 am and everyone else in this facility was sound asleep, but I was sitting cross-legged on my bed, twisting a piece of my long blond hair between my thumb and my forefinger as I hummed absent-mindedly. It was difficult to see all the way across the room, but I had to keep my room as dark as possible, with no lights on and no sudden movements, so nobody could know I was awake. If the Scientists here found out I was awake after hours, they would send armed guards barging into my room to sedate me. Dr. Willow always said to me and my fellow peers “You must sleep 10 hours a day. No more and certainly no less.”  
I didn't agree with that, but it was a rule none-the-less and the rules here were made to be followed. Failure to do so often ended badly, and sometimes even fatally.  
For most of my life or at least the parts that I can remember, I’ve made sure to follow their rules, thanks to their carrot-and-a-stick method. You do something right, you get a reward, usually in the form of food or time outdoors. You do something wrong and you’ll disappear for a while, taken by a couple of guards and returned days later with no memory of what happened or where you went. It’s a horrifying experience for you and the people around you, and the mere thought of it makes me shiver.  
'Shut up' I thought to myself in an attempt to snap myself away from those toxic thoughts. 'The suns rising.'  
That’s why I was here, why I was awake after hours. In my eyes, there wasn't much here that would be worth breaking the rules and facing the penalties for doing so, but as the sun rose over the tops of the trees and began to bathe the world in its stunning golden light, I remembered why I was here. This sunrise was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen, without comparison in the hell-hole I was kept. I always promised myself that if I ever left this place than I would climb the highest mountain that I could and watching the sunrise from it. A strange dream, I know, very narrow-minded and short-sighted, but when you are in such a hopeless place as this, you need something to hold onto. A rock, a pedestal in a place of bleak craziness.  
I sat there for thirty minutes, doing nothing but staring out of the windows at the sky. I couldn’t explain why, there was nothing interesting other than the occasional flock of birds, but something about it made me unable to look away. Only when the alarms blared, loud and jarring, to wake us up did I finally stop staring and pull my thoughts back to my body.  
“Everyone out!” Came the horrid voice of commander Harper from down the hallway. He was the man in charge of this facility, along with Dr. Willow, and he was a thorn in the side of every man, woman, and child here. He was cruel, “Up and atom jackasses!” He yelled, banging on my door and making me jump. I leaped off my bed and flew to the closet, quickly changing out of my pajamas and pulling on the first shirt, orange fabric with yellow lace, and a pair of pants, black jeans, that I could find, before running out the door to meet my fate.  
Everyone looked like death incarnate. A mix of sleepy eyes and messy hair that concocted in everyone in the hallways. In the center of the hallway was Director Harper, holding his signature weapon in one hand, a black rifle with a red scope that haunted our nightmares, and a clipboard in the other. He began to read our schedules off the clipboard, handing out folders to the people mentioned.  
“J’Tal U, Conner B and Magnus M, phycological evaluation.” He said, handing them their folders.  
“Shocking…” Connor mumbled as he took the folder. He and J’Tal had been through Phycological evaluation every day for a month and a half, and I imagine that it would get very tedious very quickly. Harper scowled at him, before hitting him with the butt of his gun sharply. He fell to the ground like a tonne of bricks and groaned, holding his face. J’Tal knelt next to his friend, mumbling something in Xhosa. He looked back up at Harper, who made a similar movement as before with the barrel of his gun towards J’Tal. Of course, he flinched, covering his head with his arm and turning away. I swear that I saw Harper smile when the boy flinched. It was sick. This sadist loved how fearful we all were of him.  
Harper shook his head, returning the scowl to his face, and went back to reading his clipboard. “Aria O, Lillia B, Alex B and Kara R.” Harper said sternly. “Morning training.” He finished, handing us all Manila folders with instructions for training. “Everyone else has time to spare until midday.” He said, holstering his weapon and walking down the hallway, out of view.  
I let out an involuntary sigh at this revelation. Morning training was one of the worst things about this place. We were barely awake enough to function, yet we are being forced to punch one-another. Wonderful.  
Like zombies, we dispersed into our rooms to prepare for the day. All except Connor, who was still lying on the ground holding half his face, and J’Tal, who was watching over his friend, eyes flying around the room.  
I knelt down next to them both, softly placing my hand on Connor’s forearm. He flinched at first, but once he saw me he relaxed visibly, still clutching his eye and cheek.  
“Will he be alright?” I asked J’Tal, looking over Connor, who let out a strange whimpering noise.  
“He was hit hard, that son of a bitch.” J’Tal growled. His voice was thick with an accent that nobody else here seemed to possess, as well as laced with underlying anger. That, everybody here had. However, his demeanor seemed to change as he looked up at me. A smile even played on his lips. “But he is strong, and he will survive this.” He finished.  
A bell rang and the other children ran out of there rooms towards wherever they were stationed. I looked around and then back at J’Tal. “Are you guys going to be ok?” I asked, knowing that being late to a session warrens punishment.  
J’Tal smiled. “We are fine. You should go, there’s no sense in us both being late.” He stated logically, and I had to admit that he was right.  
“Speak for yourself! I’m not fine!” Connor yelled as J’Tal reached down and hoisted his friend up to his feet, supporting Connors shoulders with his own. J’Tal shushed him, and they slowly made their way down the corridor.  
“Why didn’t you just keep your mouth shut?” I heard J’Tal ask him.  
Connor half-shrugged, keeping his grip on J’Tal’s shoulder. “I’m just sick of him, and these rules and these sessions. It’s all just so horrid.” He said, and each of his word resonated with me.  
“Me too, but you don’t see me walking around getting punched.” J’Tal said, and I could hear him rolling his eyes from here.  
“Technically, I was hit, not punched,” Connor said, matter-of-factly.  
“You need to stop speaking.” J’Tal stated in a mock-serious tone. With that, they both turned the corner and left my sight, their voice thinning before disappearing completely.  
I shook my head and began my walk to the training area, a long sigh escaping my lips as I tried to prepare myself for the oncoming session.  
Luckily, this whole facility is the size of a pencil box. You can walk from one end of the facility to the other in less than a minute, though to be fair, much of this place is off limits to us. Really, the only room in between the training room and the living quarters is the sizable garage, which is always full of black cars and locked weapons lockers I’ve never seen the inside of.  
I descended a set of small metal stairs that shook with my every step and ran through the garage, avoiding the three motorbikes that had fallen over on one another and the jeeps parked like a drunk person was driving them. Nobody really cared about this place, even the scientists at this point.  
Walking through a white doorway into the training area, the pair of metal doors slammed shut behind me. Groups of scientists were watching the training and talking in the corners, occasionally stopping to point something out.  
“Your late Aria.” My trainer said, walking up to me and handing me a knife that I immediately put down on a nearby table. I didn’t really like knives, and as a result, I was never that good with them. “This way.” He said, walking me towards the virtual training center, which was basically a smaller room off the larger training room that created simulated environments for training. Usually, it was forests or beaches or something else that we had never actually really seen. “Today we will be honing your abilities.”  
“For the thousandth time, I don’t have any sort of strange mystical powers,” I told him, gesturing to myself as I spoke. “No amount of relentless training is going to change that.”  
I heard the man mumble something under his breath but I didn’t question what it was since I didn’t think it was exactly flattering.  
We both walked into the virtual training center, a huge, pure white room with a small raised platform on one wall filled with the room controls. The trainer walked onto the small platform and brought up the holographic screen, while I walked in a small circle, scanning anything that could have changed in this room.  
My trainer pulled up a file named ‘Forest’ and pressed the button marked ‘run program.’ I smiled to myself. A strong hiss erupted from the vent system as a soft white gas was pumped into the room. It encircled me, and as I breathed it in, my head began to swim, my eyesight blurring and swimming. Everything around me seemed more distant, more ethereal. The room around me began to shift, the walls flickering from clean white to a beautiful forest environment. I knew that realistically this was just a hologram, a computer trick, but I could help but believe it was real. I reached out to a tree truck two feet away, longing to feel its rough oak trunk.  
“Aria!” Came the screeching voice of the trainer from above. I looked up but couldn’t see where his voice was coming from. He must have hidden himself, which was rather infuriating in itself. “Keep focused!” He yelled at me, but that was easier said than done when the world around you was fuzzy and ethereal.  
Note for H.Y.D.R.A Scientists. It’s much easier for people to concentrate if you don’t drug them.  
“Now, you file states you have powers, and Harper’s on my arse about getting you to use them.” He said. “Now focus on your aerokinesis and use the power inside of you.” He said. His words sounded as if they were meant to be inspiring, but the way that he said them was just so uninspiring that I could help but roll my eyes.  
‘Ah yes, aerokinesis, the talent that everyone seems to think that I have, despite everything I’ve ever done being entirely to the contrary.’ I thought to myself. I had no idea why everyone thought that I had powers or how to use said powers, or even really what Aerokinesis was, but I settled for raising my hands in a mystical gesture that seemed right, but almost always ultimately failed.  
“Now!” The trainer yelled. At a loss for what to do, I moved my hands in a circular motion, hoping that something in the atmosphere might move with my actions. Nothing responded. Go figure. I tried again, this time taking a step forward. Again, Nothing. My frustration grew with every useless movement until I took a drastic measure and ran straight forward, letting out a shrill scream as I ran headfirst into a tree in pure anger.  
A small leaf made a slight movement, but apart from that, the forest environment stayed blissfully silent and unmoving. I let out a long sigh and groaned. Nothing had changed since last time we tried this, or the time before that, or the time before that, and you get the idea. I stood slowly, my head buzzing with pain.  
“This is getting us nowhere!” The man yelled. I heard a buzzing sound and felt my head clear as the system dropped me back into reality, the gas thinning and disappearing. The doors opened and I was able to finally leave and walk back out into the training area. I grabbed a bottle of water off of the nearby table, chugging half the bottle in one gulp, and watched Kara kick Alex’s legs straight out from underneath him across the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some scientists standing in a circle, surrounding someone.  
“Dr. Willow,” My trainer yelled towards the group to draw the lead Scientists attention. She turned to him, and I got my first look at her in weeks.  
Dr. Willow had never looked good, always stressed or tired or yelling in anger, but on that day, she looked the worst that I had ever seen her. Her thin black hair had frizzed up and framed her uncharacteristically pale face. Her figure was paper thin and the lab coat hung from her frame. It was showing her arms, the skin on which had flecked off in large patches where she had been scratching nervously. Huge bags hid under her eyes, hinting at how little she’d been sleeping. She was holding a clipboard in one hand and a bright green lizard in the other. Her green eyes were unfocused, staring off into the distance at nothing in particular.  
“I’m still having problems with Aria. Are you sure you gave this one power?” The trainer asked, gesturing to me, who looked away nervously.  
All at once, everyone in the room went silent, looking at the trainer. Even I was taken aback. That man forgot the one rule that everyone knew.  
Never question Willow’s experiments. Ever.  
“Oh god…” Harper whispered, running towards Dr. Willow. Perhaps if he could get to her quick enough, he could stop the impending explosion that was about to burst forth. Dr. Willow turned to the trainer, a spark of fury igniting in her eyes. Willow at her best isn’t exactly a pillar of emotional stability. Willow tired and overworked is a thousand times worse.  
“DO YOU DOUBT ME?” She exploded. “DO YOU REALLY DOUBT MY PROJECTS, MY ABILITIES? HOW DARE YOU! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?” She snapped, snarling and yelling at the trainer, whose demeanor was quickly shifting from strength to standing down.  
“No… No, I don’t judge you…” The trainer stuttered. “I just…” He said, trying to justify himself.  
Dr. Willow cut him off with a gesture, not finished. “HOW DARE YOU JUDGE ME! HOW DARE YOU JUDGE THE EXPERIMENTS YOU COULD NEVER COMPREHEND!” She screamed, stomping her foot. “THAT WOMAN HAS POWERS, I PROMISE YOU THAT!” She said, finally taking a deep breath as Harper put a hand on her shoulder. “Let me talk to her.” She stated, looking up at the huge hulking man.  
“Willow…” Harper said sternly. “Do you think that that is a good idea?” He paused, then stated. “Let me rephrase that, that’s definitely not a good idea.”  
The doctor shook his hand off her shoulder. “No, but I have to do it. I’ve always seen these experiments as my children. I can turn a blind eye to the way that you treat them, you have your reasons, but him…” She said, her voice laced with a pure hatred as she pointed to the trainer. “Let me prove him to be a fool and an idiot, Harper.” She almost begged.  
Harper paused before nodding slowly, wordlessly giving her the approval that she really didn’t need. He knew that if her were to say no she would just do it anyway.  
“Wonderful.” She chirped, suddenly in high spirits, despite the tiredness she was feeling. “Hold this.” She said forcefully, handing Harper the green lizard, before turning away from him and walking towards me. She approached slowly, analyzing me before interacting.  
“Hello, Aria.” She cooed in a sickly-sweet voice, putting a hand on my shoulder. I flinched instinctively but didn’t pull away. She had given me no reason to fear her. Not yet. “I hear you're having trouble with your powers.” She asked me, taking a seat on the metal bleachers a foot or so away from me.  
“I’m having trouble with the fact that I don’t seem to have any,” I said, looking up at her. I’d never really looked at her for very long, and certainly not in the eyes, but now that I was, I was a little surprised by what I saw.  
Her eyes had love and tolerance that I hadn’t seen in an adult in quite a while.  
Dr. Willow closed her eyes and breathed out, obviously trying to sate the anger from my statement. “Don’t say that. I created you to be a powerhouse, and I believe you to be a success.” She said.  
“How do you know?” I asked her, curious as to how she was so confident.  
“I know a failure when I see one, there have been many throughout our history, but you aren’t one of them. They cease trying. They grow to be wary and stopped living. They become husks of people and no matter what we did, nothing could change them back.” Dr. Willow stated, her eyes glazing over as she stared into the distance. “That hasn’t happened to you yet. You still have your spark. You’re still alive.”  
Silence blanketed us both as we watched Kara scream something in another language and hit Alex over the head with a long steel pole. “You were one of my favorites.” She said completely out of the blue, also as if she had blurted it out. “You always were.” She added, standing up. I followed her lead, standing and watching her. Her face had a listlessness, an emotionlessness. I might still have had my spark, but hers seemed to have died a long time ago.  
“I…. I’ll try, I’ll try,” I reassured her, turning away and back towards the illusion room, a shuddery breath escaping my mouth.  
“Good. Now, hone your powers. You have a rich tapestry of abilities inside of you, you only need to unlock them.” Dr. Willow said, handing me a long metal pole. It was light and perfectly balanced, and as I twisted it in my hand I felt a sense of fulfillment. This seemed right. Dr. Willow smiled at me, seemingly forced, before turning and walking back to where Harper was standing and trying to look manly and intimidating whilst holding a lizard.  
I looked around for my trainer, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight. I couldn’t hear his voice, so I assumed that he was elsewhere, occupying his time with someone else. A large part of me was glad. It took the pressure off.  
My fingers tapped lightly on the staff, enjoying the ringing noise that it caused. I closed my eyes slowly, taking a long breath in and letting out a short, ragged one. I focused on the weight of the staff in my hand, the coolness against my skin. I twisted my wrist and spun the staff in slow circles. The air seemed to move around it, shifting out of the way and running up around my arm. It was a new feeling, and something I rather liked.  
I moved the stick faster and faster, switching it between both my hands, my breathing quickening to match my movements. The air around me began to flurry, roaring and snapping at my form, growing faster every second and fiercer with every movement.  
The wind encased me like a cocoon and I could feel it pulling my feet off the ground and lifting me into the sky. I should have been scared, but at that moment, the air felt like my friend, my equal. I never wanted it to stop, but I heard a yelling voice screaming my name. I couldn’t tell who it was, the air was distorting their voice almost into nothingness.  
I opened my eyes and saw that I was floating about four feet off the ground. Everyone was staring at me, some in shock, others in awe and all in fear. I clenched my jaw, feeling powerful for the first time in my life, and threw the staff out in front of me, watching it sail through the air across the room. The air followed it, curling around the stick and turning the simple metal stick into a speeding bullet.  
The wind dropped me in favor of following the staff, and I fell onto my back with a loud ‘ooof!’ I stood up quickly, watching the staff.  
The wind picked up a tray of weaponry in its path as if it weighed nothing and chucked it across the room. It narrowly missed Kara, who dove out of the way to avoid it. The staff lodged itself in a wall, and the wind disappeared into nothing.  
Dr. Willow let out a shriek of delight and jumped up and down of the spot five or so times. Harper scowled at my trainer, a certain “You’re fired” look in his eyes.  
“Commander Nison, my office, now!” He yelled, before handing Dr. Willow back her lizard and leaving.  
The trainer growled at me and turned away, fury evident in his eyes. In a moment of pure rage, he lobbed the clipboard at the wall. It hit the cement with a harsh clunk and fell to the ground harmlessly. He breathed in a few shaky breaths in anger, before turning back to me with a glare.  
"Training's over. Get out." He snapped, gesturing towards the door. "Out! Now!" He yelled angrily.  
For a moment, I stood completely still, unable to make my limbs work or respond before I finally turned and quickly walked from the room, heading to the cafeteria.  
I grabbed my metal tray from the bench next to the door and moved down the food line, watching the workers pile food onto the tray in front of me. The women serving had the same emotionless face like they had checked out months ago. I mumbled a thank you to them as they gave me the food and she made a rumbling noise in response, the closest I had ever heard her get to speaking. I turned away from them and looked out into the cafeteria, watching the other children talk and laugh amongst one another.  
Thomas and Justice were sitting at the head of the biggest table, surrounded by the others, talking amongst themselves and everyone else. Usually, I would sit with them, but today I didn’t feel like it. I was thinking about to many things and didn't think I'd make perticularly good company. J'Tal and Connor sat off by themselves, whispering and watching everyone else. Connor had a white eyepatch covering one eye and a bruise down half his face, but apart from that, they both seemed to be in high spirits.  
A group of scientists walked into the cafeteria, looking around at the children, searching for something.  
Almost instantly, the conversations died on everyone's lips as they looked around. Scientists didn't come in here without good reason, and usually, that meant trouble for one or more of us.  
One of them I recognized as the head scientist of this place, personal attendant to Dr. Willow herself. He looked around before his eyes fell on me and he tapped the man next to him, before walking over. The other children slowly returned to there conversations, glad that it wasn't them but apprehensive about what was happening to me.  
“Aria Odinson, How are you today?” The scientist asked absentmindedly as he walked over to me, staring down at the touchpad in one hand and swiping icons around with the other. I could tell he didn’t actually care that much about me, but that was really no surprise at this point. None of these scientists did.  
There were three scientists in front of me. The first was the lead scientist, the second was a regular jackass I'd seen many times before, but the third one was new. I was almost sure if I had seen him before I would have recognized him. He had this innocence to him, with blond hair and blue eyes widening as he looked around the room.  
“I’m fine,” I stated to the head scientist, taking a seat at one of the long metal tables. This particular table was empty, except for myself and the scientists in front of me. I placed my tray in front of me and began to poke at the pasta with my fork. It looked like vomit, but I chose to eat it anyway. Not like there was anything else.  
“That’s nice.” The head scientist mumbled, clearly not listening to a word I was saying as he watched the colors and images fly around his pad. Without looking up, he gestured towards the man standing next to him, the man I had never seen before. We locked eyes and I got a good look at him. He was a short, middle-aged man with pale, slightly wrinkled skin and blond hair. His eyes were flying around the room, taking in everything in front of him. As he looked around, his face bent into a cruel scowl.  
“This is one of our new scientists, Dr. Ross.” He head scientist said, drawing me back from my thoughts. “He will be joining our team in light of recent events. You will be temporarily placed in charge of looking after him.”  
“Why?” I asked. That was an awfully important job to just give to an 18-year-old experiment. Surely that was a job for another scientist.  
“None of us want to.” The head scientist said in a fit of blunt honesty, going back to his pad. Dr. Ross looked at him, seemingly insulted by his words.  
Join the club buddy.  
“Huh… Alright.” I said, not really having a choice and unsure of how to respond to this request.  
“Good girl.” The scientist said, and I resisted the urge to retch. His words made me sick, they all did.  
He turned to Dr. Ross and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small and very familiar weapon. It was a small metal rod that fits into the palm of his hand and had HYDRA’s symbol carved into one end. The other end had a small blue button, and it was the Bain of my existence. He handed it to Dr. Ross.  
“If any of them try anything, just press the button. They’ll scream and scatter like insects.” The head scientist said, and with that, he turned and left, the other scientists following like baby ducks.  
For about a minute, everything was silent as I shoveled as much food as I could in my mouth, purposely avoiding the eyes of the man in front of me.  
“Do you know all these people?” The new scientist asked me, looking around the room. He seemed confused and a little frightened, which struck me as strange.  
“Of course,” I said, shrugging my shoulders and taking a bite out of the pasta. “I’ve only been working with them for years,” I added semi-sarcastically, twirling my pasta on a fork.  
“I need you to tell me everything there is to know about these people.” The man said sternly, sliding into the seat across from me and taking out a notebook. I blinked a couple of times, taken aback by his sudden request.  
“I mean, sure… Ummm…” I hummed, looking around the cafeteria, looking for the people that I know the most about. Eventually, my eyes fell on the group of people I would call my friends. I pointed at the guy at the head of the table. “We’ll start with him,” I said, watching Thomas poke the girl next to him softly with a fork. “His name is Thomas, and he is just INSANELY smart. He can recite Pi to two-hundred places or something, I don’t know, I got bored of listening to him and I left.” I rambled on.  
“Who are his parents?” The scientist asked out of the blue, scribbling in the notebook.  
I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “What a weird question…” I started. “Though it’s an easy one to answer. I don’t know and neither does he. None of us do. We aren’t allowed too, and we aren’t sure why. I just assumed they were bad people and we are in here for our own protection. I’m pretty sure that’s what I heard some guard around here say.” I added, waving my fork in a gesturing motion that was as vague as my words.  
“That’s a lie.” He stated, still scribbling in his notebook.  
I looked at him, confused. “I’m sorry?” I asked.  
The scientist looked at me, before closing the book, looking around to see if anyone was watching us, and leaning forwards towards me.  
“Listen, I was supposed to be keeping a low profile and watching, but I’m not H.Y.D.R.A. and I’m not a scientist. I’m a CIA agent.” He noticed my blank expression. “You don’t know what that is, do you?”  
I shook my head. I had never heard of the CIA.  
“It’s an organization that helps people in bad situations get out of them.” He explained  
“You’ve come to the right place. Everybody here is miserable.” I stated in a flat tone, gesturing around the room. I was right, every child here talked and laughed like normal people, but none of it was real anymore. Our emotions were a façade, an unending tapestry of fake smiles and false tears.  
He seemed to pause for a second. “Everyone?” He whispered.  
“Even some of the scientists have lost interest in us. It’s strange.” I said, bringing up something I’d been noticing more and more.  
“I’m going to need your help.” Dr. Ross said solemnly.  
I look at him sideways, apprehensively. “With what?” I asked.  
“I want to help all the kids here escape, but I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need your help. I watched you unleash your power in training earlier. You have a gift, but you’ll never, ever use it properly if you stay here. You need to leave, you all do.” He explained, a pleading look in his eyes.  
“How do I know if you’re trustworthy?” I asked him after a long period of silence. “How do I know that this isn’t a test? If I were to trust you and get caught, I’d surely be beaten, or even worst.”  
He sighed and raised his arms in defeat. “I can’t prove it. I can’t prove I’m here to help, all I can say that if you follow me, you can finally escape, and see the outside world.” His voice trailed off.  
Everything was quiet, the soft hum of conversations fading into the background as I thought about his offer. I was apprehensive, of course, but deep down it made a lot of sense to me. I really did want to leave, and if I could somehow get us all out of here…  
“Whatever, It’s not….” I paused halfway through my sentence. I knew what I was going to say, ‘It’s not possible’, but as I thought about it, it most certainly was possible. I’d heard stories of people escaping this place, albeit stories I’ve never been able to verify. In fact, there was only one that I knew was true. None the less, in that moment I made a decision.  
“Never mind, I’m in,” I said, noticing his slightly confused expression. “But, if we want to escape, we’d need someone who has left before,” I mumbled, looking around for something.  
Ross squinted at me and cocked his head to one side. “Didn’t you just tell me that none of you had ever left this place before?”  
Slowly, I looked over at the table to my left. J’Tal and Connor seemed to be ignoring my table in favor of there own conversations, but once every couple of minutes, J’Tal would look up at both of us and mutter something under his breath. “ Not entirely….” I whispered slowly as our eyes locked.


	5. Next Chapter ETA: 30/06/2018

Next chapter ETA: 30/06/18  
Plot: The big escape, with a bunch of new character introductions and character backstories.   
Blurb: None, yet


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